93 Year-Old Vet Plans to Parachute into Normandy

This picture stopped me in my tracks today and shot goosebumps all through my body. A WWII Vet reflecting on the beaches of Normandy, wiping the tears from his face. The picture is from 2004 on the 60th anniversary of D-Day. 60 years after the war and this man was moved to tears. The memories still too much to bare.

The picture below has had me in deep thought all week.

Courtesy of Getty Images

Can you imagine pulling up to this battle? Just look at the smoke in the air. How would you prepare yourself to walk into certain death? In the mini series “Band of Brothers” some of the best soldiers said “you have to approach battle like you are already dead. Any fear of dying would surly cost you your life.”

Can you imagine just being the cameraman taking the picture? You get off the boat and walk into complete carnage. A hail of bullets, the water red from all the blood, dead and injured soldiers everywhere on the beach. It had to be overwhelming and faith testing.

I posted a story about the 70th anniversary of D-Day coming up Friday and my friend Robin shared this story with us on the WMMQ Facebook page. It’s the story of a 93 year-old World War II Veteran who was one of the first to paratroop with the 101st Airborn in to Normandy on the eve of D-Day. For the 70th anniversary, he plans to parachute back into Normandy. This story gave me chills and I hope it ends happily. Click here to see the story.

I also received an email from my friend Tim about how Veterans cope with the physical and emotional scars they live with.

“I worked in this grocery warehouse in Holt for four years. In the late 70’s early 80’s. We had a few World War Two veterans that did not say much about their service to our country, if anything at all. However, one veteran spoke a lot about his service, George. And another, Don, never said ANYTHING. I had breaks and lunches with these guys every weekday, for four years. I never heard Don say a word about World War Two. George, on the other hand, seemed to be everywhere, in every European country, in every battle, and he said so. I may have just been just a snot-nosed teenager, but George seemed to have been in more places than any WW2 vet in history! I’m not sure if all his war stories would pass the test.

Then one day, old George was telling one of his war stories, and said something to the effect, “I was in France, D-Day plus six”, he landed in France six days after the invasion. George and Don probably knew each other 20 years. George then turns to Don, proud that he was in France soon after D-Day, and says, “Don, you were in the war weren’t you? Where were you on D-Day??”

Don leans over the lunchroom table, looks George in the eye, and says: “ON THE BEACH”.

Nobody said a word.

I never heard Don say another word about the war, or his Army service. Three words, “ON THE BEACH”. He didn’t need to say anything else.”

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